Means for erecting cartons



Aug. 5, 1941. c. w. HARTMANN MEANS FOR ERECTING CARTONS F'iled April 27, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 'l /NVENTOQ C', W. HAQTMHN/v PE? @n Mmmm MQ Aug. 5, 1941. c. W. HARTMANN MEANS FOR ERECTING CARTONS 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

Filed April 27, 1940 Patented Aug. 5, 1941 UNITED STATES ear orties lVIEANS FOR. ERECTING CARTONS Carl Wilhelm Hartmann, Lyngby, near Copenhagen, Denmark, assigner to Satana Limited,

Edinburgh, Scotland 5 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for 4treating or lling cartons and is more particularly concerned with mechanism for feeding cartons from a stack on to means for closing the bases of the cartons as a preliminary to filling or treating the cartons, the treating for example consisting in impregnating the cartons with wax. The object of this invention is to enable cartons. in flattened tubular form precreased for dstending into-the desired tubular cross section (e. g. square ssction) to be delivered in rapid succession from a stack or magazine, distended and, fed on to suitable Shaping means.

In order that this invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect,v drawings are appended hereto illustrating an embodiment thereof, and whereinv Fig. 1 is a face view of a flattened carton'lolank` of the type which is particularly suitable for treatment with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional end elevation view of the carton feeding mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation View.

Referring to the drawings the preferred forni of carton for use with the apparatus is shown in Fig. l and is in use for retailing liquids. It comprises a cardboard or like blank I folded into a square section tube with downwardly converging sides,l and an unfolded base end provided in one corner with a wide V-notch 2 and in the diagonally opposite corner with a narrow V-notch 3. The pile of blanks is stacked in such mannerv that the l notches are arranged in a line midway between the upper and lower corners of the flattened tubular carton elements, the blank shown in Fig. 1 .e

being the view of the front carton of a stack in which it will be seen that the narrower notch 3 is in rear of each flattened carton tube.

The stack 4 of cartons is supported on the base 5 of a suitable frame 6 which has combined with it mechanism for initially distending each carton into tubular form, such means including a spreader bar 'I which is engaged inside each fiattened carton so as to locate one of the four walls of the square section carton firmly against the stack of cartons. Engaging the upper edge of the leading carton` is a folding bar 8 which is carried across av pair of swinging arms 9 which traverse the folding bar into an arcuate path forwardly whilst still engaging the saine edge of the carton, and the result of this is to nearly open the carton to square tubular section so that it has a parallelogram or rhomboid cross section as indicated by the broken lines la. The movements imparted to the carton by the combination of the spreader bar l" and folding bar presents one corner of the carton to the space adjacent to the convergingv sides of two rollers lil and II having rcughened' peripheries and which draw the carton between them anddeliver it on to a shaping plate f ends, the larger area end adapted to comprise the top being presented. towards and in axial alignment with one of. a number of formers l5, on which the bases of the cartons are closed and sealed, these formers being of square section and radiating symmetrically from a rotary support. At this stage the tubular carton is pressed on to the aligned former I5, this being effected by means of a sliding carriage I6 which is moved in unison with the spreader bar, and carries a finger-piece Ida adapted to engage. over the upper horizontal edge of the open base end' of the carton and to press the carton mouth end foremost on to the appropriate former I5.

The folding bar does not actually engage the cartons -but carries a relatively adjustable longitudinal blade Il having a bevelled lower edge, which in the uppermost position is parallel with and very slightlyoverlaps the inner side of the upper edge'of the foremost carton. VCombined with this blade area number of stops in the form of substantially square metal pieces I8 which slightly overlap the front side of the foremost carton and co-operate with a raised step I lon the front end of the base plate 5 on which the stack of cartons are supported, to form abutments opposing theforward pressure of a feeding plate 20 at predetermined stages in the vsequence of operations. The feeding platevZi engages the rearmost of the stack of cartons.

reciprooation of the spreader bar 'I and its car-l ria-ge is predetermined so as to ensure that in The blade il mayl be a flexible strip, e. g, rubber or thin metal, vand by the feeding plate 20 and its wide V 2 clears Y the pointed end of the spreader bar '1, and the spreader bar I can now move forwardly to engage fully within the foremost carton. l

'Ihe movements of the folding bar 8 and the spreader bar 1 are regulated in such manner that as the folding bar 8 swings forwardly downwardly, the spreader bar 'I is fully engaged within the carton engaged by the folding bar, and this results in the lower rear wall part of the carton blank being held flush against the stack of cartons and the remaining three walls folded in a somewhat parallel link manner relatively thereto until the corner of the carton aligned with the apex of the wide V is engaged between the said rollers I0 and I I. At this stage the folding bar swings backwards to present its4 abutments I8 against the upper edge of the foremost carton of the blank and to trip the said blade I'I of the folding bar over such edge. Immediately following this operation the spreader bar is retracted and the rotation of the said rollers will draw the already delivered carton away from the stack, the narrow V 3 passing over the pointed front end of the spreader bar. The spreader bar 'I immediately moves forwardly and engages in the next carton in succession ready for repeating the operation.

The said rollers I0 and II have milled or roughened peripheries to ensure adequate gripping action on the cartons and to deliver them positively on to the shaping plate I2. 'I'he feeding plate 20 is urged forwardly by a frictional driveon an endless belt 24 passed over a pair of rollers 25, and 26 oneV of which is driven slowlyv by any suitable means. The sliding carriage y I6 carrying the spreader bar 1 is reciprocatedf by engaging a rack bar Ib thereon with a gear wheel 2'I fixed to a further gear wheel 28 which is fixed to a spindle 28 rotating in a bearing 29, the gear wheel 28 being driven by a reciprocating segment operated from a suitable driving part of the machine. 'I'he pusher plate I4 acting upon the shaping plate I2 can be reciprocated\ by an oscillating lever 30 connected by `a link 3I to a slide 32 carrying the pusher plate. The lever 38 can be operated from a cam grooved drum 33, disposed alongside another cam grooved drum 34 which imparts oscillation to a lever 35 which is'connected by a link 36 to a lever 31 fixed to a spindle 38 carrying the swinging arms 9 of the folding bar 8.

The pusher plate I4 is a buffer member shaped toengage the full side of a carton, and the beforesaid abutment I 3 is also a correspondingly shaped buffer plate, the upper edges of these plates being bent inwardly as at I3a and I4a to t over the adjacent corner of each Vcarton thereby ensuring a firm support of the carton when the plate I4 reaches its foremost position. Up toV this stage the carton is embraced between the pair of plates I3 and I4 and is firmly supported for substantially its full length, and the nextoperation is as beforesaid to push the carton endwise by the finger IBa onY to the appropriate former, it being apparent that the finger I 6a is adapted to slide between the opposed free edges of the inwardly directed parts of the said plates I3 and I4.

I claim:

1. In mechanism for squaring out collapsed tubular carton blanks with four side panels and for feeding them on to a former, abutments between which the carton blanks are brought to open square tubular form, means varying the separation between said abutments, means feeding the carton blanks in substantially flattened form between the abutments during the widest separation of the abutments, and means to push the cartons from between' said abutments on to the former during the minimum separation stage of said abutments.

2. Mechanism for squaring out collapsed carton Y Vblanks comprising a support for a stack of flattened carton blanks, a pair of feeding rollers adapted to receive between them a leading corner of'each carton from the stack, means operating independently of the rollers to feed the cartons successively from the stack to said roller, abutments against one of which the said leading corner of each carton is impelled by said rollers, and means to vary the separation between som-e of the said abutments to fold the blanks issuing from said rollers from flattened to open box-like form.

3. Mechanism for squaring out collapsed carton blanks comprising a support for a stack of attened carton blanks, a pair of feeding rollers adapted to receive between them a leading corner of each carton from the stack, means operating independently of the rollers to feed the cartons successively from the stack to said rollers, abutments against one of which the said leading corner of each carton is impelled by said rollers, means to vary the separation between some of the said abutments to fold the blanks issuing from said rollers from flattened to open box-like form, a former, and a reciprocating carton pushing member adapted to engage one end of the open carton between the abutments and to push it on to the former.

4. In combination with mechanism for squaring out carton blanks, a support for a stack of carton blanks, a pair of feeding rollers adapted to feed the cartons to the squaring out means, a reciprocating bar movingV across the leading end of said stack so as to engage one side of the leading carton blank to form a temporary stop for such side, an oscillating abutment operating independently of said rollers adapted to engage a corner of the leading carton and to open out the leading carton so as to press another edge of the blank in between said rollers so that the whole of each carton is traversed between the rollers to the squaring out means.

5. Means for use in carton shaping machines for feeding flattened tubular cartons singly in succession from a stack to the mechanism for shaping the cartons comprising a reciprocating abutment adapted to be successively engaged with the interiors of the cartons against a predetermned side of each carton, so as to form a temporary stop against the inner side on one wall of each carton, and a co-operating abutment moving transversely relatively to the beforesaid abutment and engaging an edge of each carton to displace such edge in a direction appropriate to a partial distendng of the appropriate carton relatively to said abutment, a base member, a pair of feeding rollers adapted to receive a leading corner of each such partially distended carton and deliver the carton on to said base member to open tubular form, and a reciprocating pusher ormers adapted to receive cartons, a parallel member operating between said pair of plates pair of abutment plates on and perpendicular to and adapted to engage the rear end of each carton said base member between which the cartons are and to push the cartons from between said plates fed individually successively, means to Vary the 5 on to a former. separation of said plates for bringing the cartons CARL WILHELM HARTMANN. 

